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GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

In celebration of the Greek Independence Day on March 25th, cities and villages all over Greece hold parades where school children march through the streets carrying the Greek flag while wearing their biggest smiles. If you happen to be in Athens on the national day, you should not miss the opportunity to experience the annual armed force parade in memory of the revolution.

In 1821, the Greeks started the War of Independence by rising up against the Turks that had been occupying Greece for almost 400 years. “Eleftheria i Thanatos” (Freedom or Death) were the memorable words of the Greek people and became an important slogan during the war. The war was to be fought for 9 years, until a small part of modern Greece was finally liberated and declared an independent nation.

It is believed that the nine lines of the Hellenic flag symbolize the number of syllables in the Greek phrase, “Freedom or Death”, while the colors on the flag were meant to represent the sea surrounding Greece. On a windy day, you may notice that the Greek flag’s combination of both colors and pattern resembles the waves of the Aegean Sea.